Outlook for Ducks, Hiller still fuzzy

ANAHEIM – The Ducks have not walked confidently, or definitively, into an offseason since 2006.

That was when Brian Burke checkmated the rest of the NHL by trading for Chris Pronger on the first of July. There were no other issues, and the Ducks hit the ice running and did not stop until the Stanley Cup.

Ever since, the Ducks have started every summer on hold, waiting for calls from Scott Niedermayer and/or Teemu Selanne, tinkering with salary cap calculus.

It's hard to enjoy the golf course, particularly the 19th hole, if you keep having to recharge your phone.

The other problem with recent offseasons is that they haven't been short enough.

For the fourth time in five seasons the Ducks have not escaped April, thanks to the six-game loss to Nashville.

"Making the playoffs is fine," General Manager Bob Murray said, "but just making them is not what we're here for."

Murray plans to disappear for a while, although the questions will follow him, none bigger than the question marks inside Jonas Hiller's head.

The fascinating 2010-11 season might still be headed to glory if Hiller and the offense had ever gotten synched up.

Just as Hiller was headed for the Vezina Trophy, he played three times since the All-Star break, just as Selanne and Corey Perry were gaining top altitude.

Hiller was at Exit Day on Tuesday at Honda Center. He was in a good mood, but not because he knew what 2011-12 will bring.

"In real life it feels all right, but I don't have to stop hockey pucks," Hiller said. "It's not like a broken bone. Nobody can tell how long this will take. It's weeks or probably months.

"It's tough to explain. It's something in the inner ear. It's not like I feel like I'm falling over. I feel like stuff around me is moving side-to-side a little bit."

It was spooky whenever Hiller tried to play, as in the March 24 game at Nashville, when he went 6 for 9 in saves and was pulled in a 5-4 loss.

"The problem was keeping up with the puck," he said. "I was a half-step behind it instead of running ahead. I struggled to pick up the puck when it bounced off something.

"The signals are different than what they used to be. It takes time to get my brain used to it. It's kinda nice that so many people are trying to understand what's going on. People tell me they've had it, or know someone who does. I've had people say they can heal you without touching you. Quite a few suggestions."

Murray admitted he'd like a deadline date on Hiller's progress.

"But how am I going to know? And how is he going to know?" he asked.

Well, he's not. So the Ducks have to look at Ray Emery, who played himself squarely into the free agent market by getting the Ducks into the playoffs.

If they do not sign him they have to hope for the best on Hiller and prepare for the worst. Rookie Igor Bobkov, the goalie on the Russian gold medal world junior champs, probably isn't ready.

The Ducks have no major free agents of their own, but they also know they are not a championship team in their current form.

Can they develop their depth from within? They have Brandon McMillan to play third-line center or wing, and they have Kyle Palmieri, who was the top rookie scorer in the AHL.

There will be youth in camp, like Devante Smith-Pelly, who has seven goals in 11 playoff games for Mississauga in the OHL playoffs, and Peter Holland, the former first-round pick who had a scoring spurt when he finally reached Syracuse.

"For our young guys, their work is not done," Saku Koivu said. "They have to keep pushing and be more complete players."

As for Selanne, he said that he needs to get back into the gym by July 1 to feel qualified for next year.

Do not necessarily assume he will return just because he had 80 points in 72 games and six playoff goals in six games. There is something appealing about taking off the jersey and throwing it down from the mountaintop.

Ken Campbell of The Hockey News points out that Jean Beliveau had 76 points in 70 games in 1971, when he was 40, but retired because "I cannot perform the way I would like to perform." That is still the most productive final season for any NHL player. The Ducks fervently hope it remains so.

Meanwhile, an offseason looms like it usually does, through a glass, darkly.